I feel like every parent, at some point, has romanticized owning an RV: We could homeschool the kids and travel! We could spend every weekend going somewhere! We could explore National Parks on school breaks! I know that every time I see an RV driving down the road, my first thought is, “I would love to have an RV for our family.”
And with the Outdoorsy app, I got to live that life for a few days.
The Outdoorsy app is a complete game-changer for adventure-loving families. The platform is for RV rentals — both ones you can pick up and drive, and RVs that the host drops off for you and sets up. There’s an enormous variety all over the country — in fact, there are more than 14 countries and regions with Outdoorsy listings, and more than 4800 cities with RV listings — and the selection includes everything from little pop-up campers to giant ones that sleep eight.
The app is designed to make it as easy as possible for you to find the RV that best suits your needs. You can compare sizes, pick the number of bathrooms you need, and even search whether it comes with a grill. You can also find hosts near you, hosts near areas you’d like to visit, and hosts near National Parks if you’d prefer to get to a park and then set up camp in the RV somewhere. And like other vacation rentals, there are tons of reviews, pictures, and descriptions, as well as the chance to speak directly with the RV host to answer any and all questions.
Honestly, for a family like mine that wants to go camping and have more adventures, but feels a little insecure about all the things necessary for that kind of trip, Outdoorsy was perfection. For our rental, we opted for one that was dropped off by the host and fully set up for us — our RV host connected the water and electricity and showed us how everything worked before he left. We were able to choose our spot (we picked Unicoi State Park in Georgia) and reserve it with the campsite, then simply tell our host where to drop off the RV and the time. It was pure magic.
But if you do decide to drive a rental RV, Outdoorsy offers 24/7 roadside assistance and $1 million in insurance coverage. And since RV travel is up to 60% less expensive than other forms of travel, it’s kind of an epic win in all the ways.
One thing to note: Different hosts will have different rules and guidelines. Some may only deliver their RVs to certain areas, while others may limit how far you can drive. So, keep that in mind during your search.
The Outdoorsy app even notes that over 17 million RVs in North America sit unused for 350 days a year. Wild.
If you’re like me and love all the camping vibes but not so much sleeping in a tent on the ground with your kids, this is the way to go — especially if you’ve always wanted to take your family out on an RV adventure (or even take a solo trip!) but were unsure about handling the RV, the maintenance of one, the cost, etc.
Above all, Outdoorsy really gave our family of five the chance to bond over our girls’ spring break. With quarters that were close but not too close, our family was able to relax, enjoy each other’s company, soak up some of the beautiful Georgia outdoors and mountains, and just exist without any stress, routines, or to-do lists hanging over us.
I truly believe an RV — fully stocked and ready to go for us — was a big reason why.
